Ummm…I think I've finally run out of sayings and well known phrases to mutilate. Lol.

(…) means twin's telepathy and ((…)) means Cosmo and Wanda telepathy.

No, I don't own FOP or any reference to its varied characters mentioned herein, and unless the new episodes that follow 'School's Out' begin showing the love again, I wouldn't want to. So, for now, Butch Hartman can keep his name tacked on…even if it is for nothing more than the royalties at this point.

Oh…and I don't own The Big Comfy Couch either. That belongs to some broadcasting company in Tennessee I think. : )

Fairly OddParents : The Next Generation

Chapter 16. If Only They Knew

When Tammy's alarm went off, she reached over quickly to slap it silent before grabbing her glasses from her nightstand and sitting up to rub her eyes. She yawned once as she put the spectacles on, looked about…and nearly gasped at what she saw next.

There, sleeping curled up at the bottom of the bed, was Wanda. Dressed in one of her light jackets, her godmother lay as if exhausted with a worn and haggard look to her face even as she slept. The poor fairy didn't even look like she could find peace in sleep. It was more like the forced slumber of one who has lost all strength in mind and body and simply could keep eyes open no longer. This of course in Tammy's mind, begged the question, 'What had Wanda been doing over night that left her too tired to even make it back to the closet and required her to wear a jacket?'

The girl would have much rather let Wanda get the sleep she obviously needed, but her father was likely to come walking in at any moment and that was definitely something they didn't need right now.

Tammy gently nudged the fairy's shoulder.

"Wanda?"

The godmother groaned slightly.

"Come on Wanda. You have to wake up. Daddy could walk in at any moment and you know what happens if he finds out about you."

Wanda blinked slowly a moment before sitting up quickly in surprise.

"Goodness! I'm sorry Tammy. I didn't mean to fall asleep here. You're right. I have to get back in the closet."

That said she hopped down and made her way to the closet as Tammy followed.

"Wanda? What were you doing last night?" the girl asked as she pulled a clean blouse down from a hanger.

Wanda sat on the floor of the closet, refusing to meet the girl's eye and Tammy gave her a displeased look.

"You went out, didn't you?"

The fairy nodded.

"I'm sorry Tammy. I couldn't just sit here and do nothing."

The girl would have liked to grill the fairy on her nighttime activities right then and there, maybe even berate her for taking such a chance on going out alone like that, but there was a knock on her bedroom door just then and Tammy half closed her closet door quickly.

"Tammy?" called her father's voice.

"Yes Daddy. I'm up."

"Good girl. Breakfast in five."

"Okay. Ill be right down."

Tammy opened the closet door back up again.

"I have to get dressed and go downstairs for a little bit, but when I come back up, are you going to tell Tommy and I where you went?"

Wanda nodded.

"Good. I'll bring something up for you if you're hungry."

Another nod and with that Tammy pushed the closet door almost shut completely and changed.

Tammy couldn't help it. She was upset with Wanda. She and Tommy wanted to help her, but she'd gone off on her own, heaven only knew where, in the middle of the night with no word or anything. Okay, so the fairy was something like 10,000 years older than her and Tommy, but she was still a fairy without any magic powers. What if someone had seen her? What if something had happened to her too?

Then there was the fact that she and Tommy had told Wanda that they were going to help her no matter what, and to be excluded like that just didn't work in Tammy's eyes.

When she was ready and her head band was in place, the girl made her way downstairs, and as she slid into her seat at the table, Tommy eyed her curiously for a moment before turning back to his cereal.

(What's with you?) he asked as he munched away.

Tammy gave a mental grimace.

(Wanda went out without us last night.)

Tommy took a quick look at his sister in surprise.

(What? Why? What was she thinking?)

(I don't know. She didn't have a chance to tell me. She must have been up all night whatever she was doing because she even fell asleep at the bottom of my bed.)

(No way! Do you think Mom or Daddy saw her?)

(I don't think Daddy did because he knocked, but I don't know if Mom checked on me before she left for work or not. I mean, I would guess not since she didn't wake the whole house earlier.)

(Oh man! This could so not be a good thing.)

(I know.)

Tammy picked listlessly at her cereal as Tommy tapped his fingers absently on the table top.

(Is she going to tell us what she was doing or what?)

(She said she would.)

The kids fell into silent individual thought as the phone rang and both sets of eyes watched as their father walked past them to answer.

"Hello." he greeted in his usually chipper voice before listening to the speaker at the other end of the line.

"Yes, That's right. Between 8:40 and 8:45," Tim answered to a question asked from the other side.

Their father's eyebrows then furrowed and his smile dropped almost dramatically.

"I see. Any clue as to why?" he asked the caller.

The kids glanced at each other when they saw their father's hand turn into a loose fist and he begin to lightly rap his knuckles on the counter top beside his briefcase. It was a little gesture of annoyance the kids knew plainly said he wasn't happy.

"No, I understand. Thank you for the call. I appreciate it."

With that, the call was ended and the man stood in silent thought for a moment.

He noticed the kids watching him just then and gave a small smile.

"Well, it looks like you two get a living, breathing babysitter today."

The kids looked at each other briefly.

"What happened to the robot?" asked Tommy.

"Apparently it never made it back the babysitting agency last night. I'll give Mrs. Carter from across the street a call and see if she can sub for today. I'm sure she won't mind since it should just be for today until your mother and I can set something else up later."

Tim turned away to make the call and the kids scrunched up their faces.

(It didn't go back to its home agency…) said Tammy. (We gotta tell Wanda!)

Tommy nodded and as one, the kids stood and emptied what was left of their cereal into the garbage disposal.

"Well, its arranged," said Tim. "Mrs. Carter will be here in just a few minutes. I expect you two to behave for her just like you would the robot, alright?"

"Okay, Daddy. We promise," the kids said in perfect unison.

"I should call your mother and let her know. Now she won't have to call home every ten minutes," he said with a smile and a wink.

The kids grinned back. Their mother could be a worrier sometimes like that.

"We'll be in our rooms Daddy."

The man nodded as he dialed in Tootie's cell number.

The kids ran upstairs as fast their legs could carry them and nearly burst through Tammy's bedroom door.

"Wanda!" they called simultaneously.

The fairy stuck her head out of the closet quickly.

"What is it? Is everything okay?"

"Guess what! The robot never made it back to the babysitting agency last night!"

Wanda gave a grim nod.

"I didn't expect it would."

The kids looked at her curiously.

"I went out last night to check if the houses that reported the missing Vic-Bots had fairies assigned to children in them."

"And?" egged Tommy, hating the suspense.

"More than half of them," confirmed their godmother.

"So it was the Vic-Bots!" said Tommy excitedly.

"Well, that's one piece of the puzzle solved. Now we just have to figure out who is behind the Vic-Bots," Tammy added as she tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Right!" agreed Tommy.

He faltered then. "And how do we that?"

"By going back to the source," replied Tammy.

"That being?"

"The babysitting agency."

Wanda shook her head.

"What about a babysitter for today? I'm sure your father isn't going to let you stay home alone. Without my magic, its going to take a lot longer to do things and go places. And a human babysitter is bound to realize you're missing eventually. At least, they should."

Tommy smiled.

"No worries Wanda. Daddy got the neighbor across the street to come over for the day."

"And that's good how?"

The boy grinned.

"Are you kidding? Mrs. Carter is like, a hundred years old and she always gets up at 6am. An hour in front of the TV watching morning game shows and she'll be out for most of the day! As long as a kid can handle the cat smell, she's the best non-rule-enforcing emergency babysitter around!"

Wanda gave a half smile.

"Well, ordinarily I'd be a little worried leaving kids with a babysitter like that, but in this case… Thank you Timmy."

"Yeah. It'll make it a lot easier to get out of here."

From downstairs, their father called up, "Tammy, Tommy. Mrs. Carter is here and I have to go."

"Coming!" they shouted together.

"We'll be right back Wanda."

Wanda nodded.

"You might want to bring a phone book back up with you."

The kids looked at her curiously as they stopped by the bedroom door.

"We'll need to find the address of the sitting service that the Vic-Bot came from," the fairy explained.

"Ohhh. You got it."

The kids said goodbye to their father and afterward, occupied Mrs. Carter with especially polite conversation for a good half an hour. The goal of that was to ensure that Mrs. Carter had no cause to wonder over them unduly much. Basically, they wanted her to think of them as reliable and trustworthy kids who didn't need a constant eye on them. If only she knew.

The plan worked, and when an old 1990's Bob Barker rerun of the 'Price is Right' started on the 'Game Show Network', the woman had no trouble immersing herself into the show completely when the kids reported that they planned on spending the day being either in their rooms or in the backyard. The second half of the plan took a little longer than they'd anticipated though when Mrs. Carter didn't fall asleep until 'Tic Tac Dough' was over. 10:30 was a touch later then they'd hoped to be out by, but still not bad.

"I think the jacket will still work to hide your wings in the light, but the hair is another matter," stated Tammy as she looked at Wanda. "And without your magic to make people dismiss it, it's a pretty strange color even for this area. People are going to look."

"That and the eyes," muttered Tommy earning himself an annoyed look from his sibling.

"What?" asked Tommy cluelessly.

Tammy shook her head as she looked about in her closet.

"I thought I still had an old rain hat in here you could wear, but I guess Mom snagged it out."

Tommy looked at his sister in surprise.

"A rain hat! Come on. Wanda's way cooler than that."

He turned to Wanda then and said, "Don't worry Wanda. I got a hat you can wear."

With that he dashed out and to his room. He was back in seconds and proudly holding out a wide brimmed, brown fedora like hat.

"What is that?" asked Tammy in astonished horror.

"A hat. What's it look like it?"

"A fashion nightmare is more like it."

"So you say. All the great detectives do their snooping around with a hat like this. It's a shame you didn't have it on last night Wanda. It would have been perfect."

"Perfectly bad, you mean," said Tammy as she watched Wanda take the hat from Tommy and place it on. It covered most of her pink hair reasonably.

Wanda looked at the kids.

"Well? What do you think?"

"Cool!" said Tommy. "All you need is a real trench coat and it'd be perfect."

Tammy just rolled her eyes.

"Well at least it covers your hair enough that most people shouldn't notice that," said the girl. "Now as long as they don't stare at the hat too much, we should be fine."

Wanda gave a heavy, almost nervous sigh.

"It doesn't matter. Lets just get going. If I remember the city correctly, its quite a few blocks down to the street the sitting service is located on, so we should get moving."

The kids nodded and from there the trio left out the back door rather then risk waking the babysitter by leaving through the front.

After nearly six blocks, Tammy couldn't help but be a little impressed. For a creature that normally did not have to walk, she thought Wanda was doing pretty darn well. The poor thing had been up running about almost all night, was working with maybe two hours of sleep, and she didn't seem to have a bit of difficulty keeping up with the kids. Either her determination to find Cosmo was seriously pushing the adrenaline, or fairies were even more different than humans than just wings, magic and size. When this was all done and everything was back to normal, she was definitely going to ask Wanda about it. She had a feeling it was going to be a very interesting lecture. But now was certainly not the time. Even Tammy knew that. She also knew too, that if they wanted to get to the babysitting agency anytime soon, they were going to need to go a whole lot faster.

"Hold up guys," she suddenly said as she walked over to a bus bench. She carefully pulled a discarded bus schedule out of the trash can next to the bench and quickly scanned it.

"Hey! Check it out! There's a bus that goes right by here in about…," she quickly checked her watch. "…three minutes! We can catch it and get there a lot faster."

"Tammy, we need bus passes or money. We have neither. You don't think the driver is just going to give three people free rides do you?" asked Tommy condescendingly.

"Who says we don't have any money," replied the girl with a smug smile as she pulled out and opened a small change purse with a ten, several fives and lots of ones rolled up in it.

Tommy peered at the money bug eyed.

"There's gotta' be like thirty bucks in there!" he exclaimed.

"Thirty seven actually, "corrected Tammy.

"Where'd you get it?"

"Its my 'rainy day slash summer fun' stash."

"You mean the money you save for when you go to the amusement park and shore and all with Kiki?"

The girl nodded.

Wanda quickly pushed the sides of the purse closed in the girl's hands as she shook her head.

"I can't let you use your money for this. Its my job really. You shouldn't even be doing this with me and…you know I can't give whatever you spend back to you."

Tammy smiled.

"No one said you had to. Remember, we chose to help you this time. You and Cosmo have already been helping us and if we're lucky, we'll get to have you two for a long while yet, so I don't think it's a problem for us to help you. Besides…you still have to godparent us. If we get on that bus you have to follow, right?"

"Uh, well, I guess. But I still don't think you should have too…"

Tammy put her hand up quieting the fairy.

"No choice now Wanda. Look. Here comes the bus."

Wanda turned to look and indeed, there was the bus, getting ready to pull up to the little stop.

The fairy sighed and Tammy grinned knowing she had this one.

When the bus came to a stop and the doors slid open, Tommy jumped on first quickly as Wanda hesitated.

"Hop on," insisted Tammy.

Wanda nodded and with her head turned down to avoid any eye contact, the fairy followed Tommy on board, Tammy right behind her. As Tommy led them to the very back, Tammy saw a few other riders give questioning glances towards Wanda and her odd attire, but the girl caught their eye with a stern disapproving look and nosey passengers quickly turned their eyes back to other more interesting areas of the bus. Such as the gum spotted floor or out the dirty windows.

The three took up one seat in the back and while Tommy looked out the window, Wanda continued to keep her eyes down and Tammy stared forward, intent on not missing their stop and occasionally waylaying the stares of those nosey few who hadn't understood the message well enough the first time.

Tammy would never have considered herself too forward a person. She didn't think herself overly commanding or hell bent on leadership rights in all situations. But she did admit that when she saw something that needed to be done, and no one else was willing to step forward, she would do so. The confidence that had grown from such a personality was a clear signal to anyone that took a look into her steady, clear blue eyes that she was not going to be one to tolerate foolishness on any level and surprisingly, the adults on the bus around them gave her way. She wasn't threatening to them in any way (what nine year old as adorable as she was would be?), but she was invoking no questions or idle stares and all it took was those eyes.

'That's right busy bodies,' she thought to herself. 'Keep those heads turned every where but back here. There's nothing to see. Nothing at all.'

The ten minutes to their stop just couldn't seem to go fast enough for either her or Wanda and by the time Tammy was paying the fare and following Wanda and Tommy off, the girl was a bundle of edginess. It had seemed like everyone that could possibly stare did and she had half expected them to suddenly point at Wanda and start yelling, "Fairy Godparent!"

Thank goodness nothing of the sort had happened.

What did happen after only a few feet down from the bus stop however, was Tammy and Tommy suddenly finding themselves yanked back and into a small alley.

The girl looked at Wanda in surprise before the fairy explained, "Your father" in a soft voice.

The kids peered out around the corner carefully, and just as Wanda had said, they saw their father getting into an unmarked police car with another detective. The car began rolling a moment after that, and for a brief second, the three were pressed against the wall of the alley as the vehicle rolled past them.

"Phew," said Tommy with an exaggerated sigh.

Tammy and Wanda looked back up the street from where Timmy had come out.

"That must be where 'Ms. V's TLC Babysitting Service' is," said Tammy and Wanda nodded in agreement.

The three made their way quickly to the brick building that seemed to snuggle between a trendy nail boutique and a small bank, and stepped in to see a secretary busily typing away.

The tap tap tap of the keyboard stopped as the woman looked up curiously before smiling broadly.

"Well, good morning there. What can I do for you three?" she said sweetly as though the three before her were kids of a far younger age.

"Uh, we'd like to see who's in charge here please if you don't mind," said Tammy after a moment.

The woman continued to smile as she stood up and walked out from behind her desk.

"Of course! This way."

Tammy, Tommy and Wanda looked at each other in surprise before following the woman. They passed through one room where fifteen operators were fielding questions and making appointments for sitters with clients, and in another, there were ordinary babysitters sitting around a long table exchanging notes on some of the children they'd had the 'honor' of watching the night before. A flights of stairs followed and before they knew it, the secretary was rapping on a closed office door.

"Come in," came a clipped and gruff woman's voice from inside.

The secretary opened the door and said with a chipper tone, "There's some visitors here to see you Miss V."

A red nailed hand waved absently from behind a high backed plush leather chair, which was turned away from the door, and the secretary stepped back with a nod to let the 'visitors' pass into the room.

The door was closed before the woman's voice issued again from the chair.

"And what can I help you three with today?" she asked with a cool iciness that made the kids give an involuntary shiver beside Wanda.

"Please, uh, Miss V, we have some questions to ask you," said Tammy having taken the lead.

"Oh? What about?"

"It's about the Vic-Bots ma'am."

"Really?"

The chair turned round just then and the woman who occupied it steepled her fingers as she leaned her elbows on her mahogany desk. Thick red hair fell over her shoulder from a loose ponytail that ran nearly to her waist and with a cool, smirking smile, bright burning eyes regarded them calculatingly.

"And what questions might those be, hmmm?"

The kids gawked in opened eye astonishment for nearly a minute before shouting in unison, "Aunt Vicky?"

Dun dun dun! Aunt Vicky? Wow! Who would have thought? Lol. Okay. I'm sure you all saw it coming a mile away. Really, its just another step in the story and nothing to get excited over.

Ahahahaha…I just found out that the woman who does Timmy Turner's voice, Tara Strong, also does the voices of Little Red Riding Hood and (lol) a fairy on the PS2 game Shrek2. You can really hear Timmy in the fairy's voice. The first time I heard it (I was sitting in another room), I thought someone was watching FOP!

And just for clarification, I do not own the Game Show Network, the Price is Right, Bob Barker (as if I would want to own that womanizer!) or Tic Tac Dough. Personally though, I liked the old game show with the little red devil looking 'Whammys'. When ever a player would get a spin, they'd say (hoping it would bring them luck of course), "No Whammy, no Whammy, no Whammy, no Whammy!" until they hit a button to stop their spin. If they got a Whammy on their spin, the show would have a little cartoon Whammy come across the bottom of the screen and do something silly. Yes, I know. Weird. But you can thank my Grandmother for that. Being raised by her and spending summer watching morning game shows with her has given me an interested blending of old and new ideas. She also gave me my love of reading, and thus indirectly, writing. Without her really, this story probably wouldn't even be up! Okay, so she sometimes smelled like moth balls and always forgot that the glasses she was looking for were almost always pushed up onto her head, but so what? She was freakin' awesome!

Thank you's this week go to…

Aerinsoul - Wow. You were crying in school over last chapter and poor Cosmo. I'm really touched. And no, I don't mean in the head. At least I don't think so. Lol. As much as I loved doing that last chapter, Wandissimo was difficult to write that time around. Keeping him in character but with seeing things in a different light…you have to balance it carefully or it comes out all wrong. I hope I did him at least some justice. I guess maybe I did at least a little if you were sympathizing with him. And yes, that was Fleur. No one there has mentioned her name yet, so they don't know her as such. Cosmo has such a wonderfully simple way of looking at things. So simple sometimes that it actually makes writing from his point of view difficult at times. He doesn't understand near as much in clear concepts as most others, so it can be hard to get what I want across to everyone without making him seem too unbelievable. That's why I used Wandissimo in 15. He can clearly conceptualize the deeper meaning, and that's what I wanted. Level 13 probation? With Mama Cosma? (authoress as she imitates Wanda at the end of the 'Where's Wanda?' episode… a very cute episode by the way with poor Cosmo just trying to keep Wanda out of trouble) "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" I hope that's Earl Grey tea in that cup. I just love Earl Grey tea. I can sit through anything as long as I have a cup of Earl Grey with me.

Commander - Yay! I retained Wandissimo's ego! I was so going for that! You have to know that I fight the urge to make him out as a total jerk every time I have a part with him in it. I think its just natural instinct for serious Cosmo/Wanda fans, lol. But I figure that even he knows there's something far more serious going on and that sometimes old injustices have to be put aside, if only for a while. Besides, there's a reason for him evolving as he is. Oops. Said too much again. Bad me. And its funny, even though I know where this all going, I still feel bad for Cosmo myself.

The-3-Amigos - I'm thrilled that you're continuing to enjoy this and you're liking my reaching out to write from different angles. Not that my interest in this story is waning in anyway, but always doing it from the same person can get boring at times. Besides, there are times when its far better to do it from another view. Like I said to Aerinsoul, I want Cosmo to stay believable, so the only way to get it as clear as I wanted it to be was to do it from another angle. Wandissimo just happened to be there so I used him. Well, he was there by design, but he was still there. ; )

Invder Lava - It's a short list, eh? I am very honored. Yeah. It would be old school Cosmo all the way. The intellectual portion of it may not fit completely, (though I still say he's got something upstairs what with the jokes he comes up with, he just uses it a little differently) but the way he flits about from thing to another…oh yeah.

Faye Lunacorn - Lol. Welcome back to reality! And my reviews weren't kind. They were honest. I'm really liking your story and I just can't say that enough. Ah, the curse of responsibility. We all want to grow up so bad, and when we finally do, we wish we could go back! I'm sure you'll be able find some time here and there. I used to carry a little notebook around with me where ever I went and if I was struck with a line or major inspiration, I'd quick jot it down so I wouldn't forget it. So you liked the Lily and Wanda interaction. I'm pleased that you and everyone else got the gist of what I was going for in it. Powerful…that's another new word for this story. I'm so pleased that you feel that way about it though. Really. You just spoil me too much with your reviews. Not that I'm complaining mind you!; ) Cosmo's glare, in my mind, is like nothing you've ever seen on his face before. I reworded that whole paragraph and a half at least six times trying to convey what I was seeing in my head for it, and I still don't think I did it justice. If you do draw something for it, you will let me know right? Please? Pretty, pretty please? No pressure though. Lol. Anyways, I hope work gives you some time to yourself soon. We all need it at sometime.

Band Geek 727 - Ya know…I love when my readers and I are on the same wavelength. Its always surprising and yet fun to see what they catch. Wandissimo's idea regarding Cosmo and Wanda's relationship is evolving along the line you were thinking. It hasn't happened entirely just yet though. These things do take time, lol. The big moment comes a little later. So I gave you chills. Very cool. And poor Cosmo isn't just feeling lost without Wanda. Because he can't talk to her or feel her presence, he has no idea where she is, what's happening to her or if she's even still alive. And when one has lived their life that closely tied to another, you have to think that they would seriously suffer if all traces of their love were removed so abruptly. That's why I think telepathy works so well with them. They're so well tied in action and in thought in the show…they don't have to think about what's going on with the other. They just know.

Kraven the Hunter - No, no. I don't blame anything on Danny Phantom, which I have managed to catch a couple of cool episodes of. I completely blame the people Butch left in his stead to write and produce FOP for the decline of C&W's obvious expressions of love and the heightening of their nasty antagonism towards each other. They could do so much better and find so many other ways to garner laughs than by using a combative and rocky marital relationship. Just my HO though. A Danny piñata…ouch. I wouldn't stoop so far as to take my displeasure out on another show that from what I've seen isn't half bad. Its not Danny's fault. For all we know, maybe Butch was against some of the writer's ideas on FOP and he left because of dissatisfaction. Anyways, Wandissimo has a brain. Devious enough to come up with ways to separate C&W, I'd rather think that with a situation as extreme as this, even he would have to see things a little differently. Although, admittedly, my original rough outline for the story had him trying to take Cosmo out for his own nefarious purposes during the worst of this. I decided to be nice to him though and use him in other ways. He might even get his own relatively happy ending. Maybe. I still don't like him after all. ; ) You can taste the mastermind eh? Eww. I don't think I'd even want to imagine that. Lol.

Oh boy. I'm starting to think I've written myself into a hole of serious expectation I'm not going to be able to meet! And to all you Wandissimo dislikers out there…you might like to know… that last chapter has inspired a new FOP story idea where Wandissimo is the bad guy through and through. I mean bad. Nasty. Major evil complex even. I have a rough draft already started for it (to add to my many others) so now I just need to finish this and get started on it! Lol.

Trixie21